Turtle Doves and Golden Rings
by poeticgrace
Summary: Twelve days of Christmas with Rachel and Puck. Puckleberry series.
1. A Partridge in a Pear Tree

**A Partridge in a Pear Tree**

Rachel's not sure what convinced her that Puck's idea for a holiday road trip was a good one, but when they ended up stranded on the shoulder of a deserted highway somewhere outside Partridge, Kansas, she was sure that she had never been more wrong.

"I told you that we should have stopped off for gas at that last exit," she grumbled as she watched him fruitlessly walk around in a sunflower field in a vain attempt to get service on his dying cellphone. The population sign nearby said that just under 250 people lived in the tiny town, which meant that the chances of a tow truck happening by were slim at that point. And it was cold, as it was prone to be at the end of December in the Heartland. Rachel leaned out her cracked window and called out to him. "You should come back in the car at least before you freeze to death."

"Don't have to be so dramatic, babe," he smirked when he climbed back into the driver's seat. He pushed his fingers against the screen of his iPhone for a moment before he threw it on the dash. "Look, I got some warmer clothes in the back. I am going to bundle up and see if I can flag someone down. You stay in here and keep the doors locked."

Rachel looked at him as if he was insane. "You are not leaving me here alone."

"You don't exactly have shoes made for hiking with us," he pointed out. He had tried to convince her to pack something more comfortable when they had left New York, but she had insisted on jamming her suitcase full of cute knee-high boots and strappy heels. The weather was always warmer in Los Angeles, and she intended on enjoying every minute of the new pedicure she'd gotten the day before they had left. "Besides, you'll be safer here. You never know what you can encounter on the open road."

"This whole hair-brained scheme was your idea, and you are not going to abandon me on the side of the road just so some lonely trucker can have his way with me," she snapped. "Besides, I'm cold and hungry, and maybe walking will distract me from one or the other."

"I think I have one of those pear-cranberry energy bars somewhere in my backpack," he said before leaning over the back of his seat to find it. Her dark eyes lit up when he produced not only the bar but also a banana and a small packet of trail mix he had snatched from the motel mini-bar that morning. "Take your pick, babe. Don't act like I don't treat my girl right."

"My hero," she rolled her eyes before opting for the banana. She peeled away the skin carefully, tucking it into the paper bag she kept in the pocket of the door for trash, and broke it in half. She handed over the slightly longer piece of the fruit to him with an apologetic smile. Arguing wasn't going to get them anywhere, and if she had to be broken down on the side of the highway on Christmas weekend with anyone, she was glad that it was her boyfriend.

Puck filled his backpack with anything he didn't want to get taken should anything happen and then carefully locked his truck behind him. It was the same one he'd had since high school, the one she had begged him to sell when he had finally moved to New York during the spring semester of their junior year of college. They had reconnected over a lost summer in Lima and Rachel had lasted all of nine weeks in New York before she had begged him to transfer. It hadn't really taken much prodding on her part.

"Come on, Berry," he murmured as he took her mittened hand in is. He looked down at the fuzzy pink thing with its yellow snowflake pattern and silly balls dangling from the wrist. She was so cute sometimes. "I think we're about 10 miles or so from Hutchinson. Hopefully someone will come along or we'll get reception."

It was late enough at night that she knew the chances of too much traffic happening by were slim. They had wanted to drive straight through the night and get to California by the early afternoon so they could enjoy Christmas dinner with Brittany and Finn. She still couldn't believe that the two of them were not only together but had been married for three years and had a one-year-old son. She had been with Noah for five years now and they had only recently started talking about getting engaged. Rachel and Puck didn't even celebrate Christmas, but their old friends had insisted that they come by on their way through. Puck never turned down free food, and Rachel thought it might be good to see their son again.

"It's so quiet out here," she whispered. She wasn't sure why she was keeping her voice soft, but it just felt right beneath the blanket of glittering stars. "I don't think I've ever heard anything so silent. It's never like this in the city."

"It'd be unsettling if it wasn't so damn beautiful," he replied, looking more at her than at the impressive landscape around them. "I really am sorry about all this, babe. I know that this is the last way you want to be spending part of our trip together."

Any anger that she had toward her boyfriend was now gone. His apology was so genuine and she could see love shining in those hazel eyes that she adored so much. "At least we're together," she said, squeezing his hand. "It'll work out as long as we have that, right? It always does."

Puck had been thinking about how he wanted to do this for a long time. He had previously thought he'd fly their parents in and ask her over some elaborate dinner in New York. And then he thought maybe he could ask her during the opening night party the director threw during her last show. Neither of those had seemed like enough, so he had almost proposed when everyone was back in Lima for their ten-year reunion over the summer. Yet, as he stopped and looked down at her beneath that late harvest moon, Puck didn't want to wait anymore. He wasn't sure if it was the perfect moment, but it was certainly the right one.

"Hey, Rach?"

"Hmm?" she murmured as she stopped walking a few paces ahead of him, their fingers still entwined. "What's wrong?"

"Let's get married."

It wasn't the fairytale proposal that Rachel had always envisioned, but that didn't surprise her a bit. This was Noah and he wasn't like anyone else she had ever known. He did things his own way, and over the years, she had learned to not only embrace but quite love that method of operation.

"Alright," she grinned. He reached up and cupped her chin in his hand, the fabric of his old leather gloves sliding easily against her smooth skin. "But I want a ring."

"It's in the drop dresser drawer under my socks," he promised her. He'd had it for a year, ever since she had stopped to look at it one spring day when they were window shopping near Times Square. "It's already sized and everything. You can have it as soon as we get home."

"Speaking of which," she smiled. A pair of headlights flashed up ahead. "It looks like we're saved!"

Puck was relieved when not only did someone stop but it also happened to be a uniformed sheriff on his way home to Partridge. The older man was happy to drive them back to the bigger city to get a gas can and then to where there car was still parked on the side of the road. Puck was grateful but quiet on the ride, smiling in the backseat while Rachel rode up front and learned all about each of the man's seven grandchildren. He left them with warm wishes for the holiday, and Rachel made sure that she had his address so that she could send him a wedding invitation.

* * *

_Author's Note: This will be a series of Puckleberry unrelated one shots dealing with each of the Twelve Days of Christmas. _


	2. Two Turtle Doves

**Two Turtle Doves**

"Merry Christmas, Daddy!"

Puck kept his eyes closed at the sound of his daughters' voices way too early on a Saturday morning. He legit loved his girls, loved being a father, but this was a part he had never gotten used to since they were born seven years ago. He sometimes still missed lazy weekend mornings with wife, something that had all but disappeared when Rachel gave birth to the twins in the middle of a San Francisco heatwave seven years ago.

"Christmas isn't for two weeks," he mumbled, "and we're Jewish."

"Duh, Daddy!" Eliza cried out. Puck finally opened his eyes and sat up in the king-sized bed, expensive sheets pooling at his waist. His daughters were identical save for one trait. Eliza had deep chocolate brown eyes like her mother's while Millie had hazel ones like him. "But the play is tonight and Mommy made Santa-shaped waffles to help us get into the spirit of the performance. She said we can't eat until you get up!"

"Yeah, so you have to get up," Millie ordered him. "We only have three hours until we have to be at the school, and you know how Mommy gets when you get off our schedule."

Rachel was as diligent about the girls' schedule as she was about her own back in high school. It was one of those rare times when she failed to meet her schedule that led to them reuniting during their first year of college. Rachel had been running late to this morning stagecraft show because she had stopped off for coffee, and Puck was coming into the little deli he frequented when she was coming out. It turned out that he had gotten session work in the city after the whole LA thing hadn't panned out, which she learned about after he successfully convinced her to skip the rest of her day.

They'd been through a lot in the nine years since that day. Rachel had gotten really into her dance classes during college and ended up changing from performing to choreography. Puck had ended up in some classes of his own. Now, they were a husband-and-wife production team within the modern department of the San Francisco Ballet, where she put together complicated footwork set to his music. Rachel had taken the occasional guest role in regional theater until the girls were born but stopped altogether to spend her non-working time with her family. The only real remnants of that time in her life were her daughters' names (both chosen from famous musicals) and the occasional show tune she'd sing while she cooked.

"Alright, alright, I'm getting up," Puck muttered as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. He picked Eliza up from the mattress and threw the squealing girl over his shoulder. He grabbed Millie's hand and tugged her after him on his way down the stairs. Rachel was just setting the last of breakfast in the middle of the table when they came into the kitchen. "Smells great, babe."

"A very kosher Christmas breakfast," she said proudly. She took a bowl of sliced fruit and sat it in front of her own spot. She was still very much vegan but cooked for the rest of a family who very much wasn't. "Go wash up, girls, your food is getting cold."

Puck waited until he heard their scampering feet down the hall before he turned to kiss his wife fully. She moaned a little into his mouth like she always did and then shook her entire body happily when they pulled apart. "What time do we have to have them at the school?"

"Noon," she answered automatically. He was sure she'd already told that him no less than five times, but his girl was patient. "We're going to have to drive rather than take the BART though. I don't want to have to drag their wings on the subway."

He wasn't sure how his daughters had ended up in the only public school that still allowed them to do Christmas performances, but the twins had been excited about the play for weeks. They'd been cast as a duo, and Rachel had worked long hours to sew a pair of matching costumes. Puck had been adamant when he'd called the girls' teacher to find out if there would be any Jewish components to the play, and Ms. Harper had been happy to explain that there would also be Kwanza elements in the musical.

"There are my little turtle doves," Rachel said affectionately as the girls came back into the breakfast room. Eliza climbed up in her seat first to his left while Millie took her time making sure her flatware was just so before slipping into her chair on the right. Rachel reached for Eliza's plate to prep the waffles with blackberry jelly since she was on this whole kick about hating syrup. Puck slathered Millie's with creamy peanut butter and extra maple syrup. Both girls were happy but silent when they finally tucked into their food.

Four hours later, Puck sat with Rachel near the front of the school's little auditorium as a group of kids a little older than the twins danced off stage. Rachel had gotten better about offering up her criticism unprompted over the years and genuinely seemed to be enjoying the cute factor of it all. Puck surprisingly didn't want to slit his wrists like he usually wanted; he really only liked the parts that included his kids. He was soon rewarded for his patience when Rachel's hand slipped onto his knee just as the familiar carol started up, indicating that his daughters' entrance was coming soon.

"On the second day of Christmas," Eliza sang out, her voice as angelic as Rachel swore hers was at that age.

"My true love gave to me," Millie belted, her own voice a little more throaty like Puck's still was.

"Two turtle doves," the girls sang together before joining with a little red-headed boy dressed as a pear. "And a partridge in a pear tree!"

Sometime later, after five little blondes had pirouetted to represent golden rings and a little boy he knew to be Jamie puked over the side of the stage due to an allergy to the four French hens' feathers, Rachel and Puck waited with tiny little bouquets of flowers with the rest of the parents for their girls. Millie came out first, her wings dragging on the ground as she searched for her mom and dad.

"How did I sound?" she asked excitedly as she took the yellow carnations from Rachel. She loved yellow right now. "Did you hear me, Mommy?"

"You did great, Chicken Little," Rachel praised her. She was really good at giving the girls individual nicknames and compliments. She always called Millie that because she was the youngest of the two by six whole minutes. "Daddy filmed the whole thing, so we'll have to watch it later when we upload it to send to Uncle Kurt and Uncle Blaine."

"What are we sending to Uncle Kurt and Uncle Blaine?" Eliza asked curiously as she finally reappeared. Her little face lit up when Puck handed her the purple daisies. "Daddy, did you get our song on the video camera?"

"It's all there, Jellybean," he promised. Her nickname came from the fact that she slept in the shape of the candy even to this day. "What do you say I treat my girls to hot chocolate to celebrate?"

"Ooh, Daddy, can we go to Ghirardelli?" Millie asked over her shoulder. She was already out the door with Eliza at her side.

"Yeah, Mommy, can we?" Eliza echoed as the two ambled over to their already warming (he loved technology) SUV.

"Do you mind driving out to the pier?" Rachel asked as she looked up at him. He shrugged his shoulders; whatever his three girls wanted. "Daddy says yes."

Puck grabbed Rachel's wrist to stop her. "Look at our girls," he smiled, nudging her side affectionately. The girls were laughing together, Eliza stroking the feathers on Millie's wings and Millie straightening out Eliza's little skirt. "Thanks for my turtle doves, baby."

She smiled up at him brilliantly in the exact same way she had when they were sixteen and he had serenaded her with "Sweet Caroline" and chosen glee. Maybe early wakeup calls weren't so bad at all; in fact, he was pretty sure all of it, every little thing, was worth it as long as she kept smiling at him exactly like that.

She promised him later in their bed that she always would be.


	3. Three French Hens

**Three French Hens**

Rachel almost spent the first Christmas after they lost Finn alone in Paris.

It wasn't how it was supposed to be. The trip started out as a rare getaway with her fathers, a brief break tucked between classes at NYADA and "Funny Girl" rehearsals and court dates for Daddy and Dad's surgeries. However, two weeks before they're supposed to fly out of JFK, Rachel's dad called to tell her that Daddy was going to be sequestered for a big trial in Columbus, and they wouldn't be able to get away as planned.

"I'm sure that Paris will be just as lovely in the spring," she said. "I can fly out to Ohio and spend a few days with you guys instead."

"I think you should go, honey," her dad said softly. Even if their family didn't really celebrate Christmas, they all knew that it had been Finn's favorite holiday. Rachel had loved the way that Finn embraced the cheer of the season. "It might be good to have some time on your own. It's been a tough year, but it's hard to be sad when you're in Paris."

Rachel could remember when she still felt that way about New York, so she agreed to fly out on a Thursday redeye to a foreign country where she had a minimal working knowledge of the language and her fathers' generous credit card limit in her pocket. They had already made arrangements at an upscale boutique hotel for her. Rachel threw herself into exploring her surroundings from that first day. She had a month in the city, prolonged by the non-refundable deposit on a second room that the hotel had begrudgingly agreed to let be an extension on her single room, and she intended to make every minute of it.

There was so much to do in Paris. There were museums upon museums filled with beautiful paintings and relics of European history and scientific discoveries. There were old churches with ornate carvings and stunning architecture. There were plays to see, ballets to dream about, concerts to sing along with, dance halls to explore. She ate at some of the most wonderful patisseries that she could have ever imagined and found an affinity for some of the treats her typically vegan diet didn't allow (though she still couldn't quite stomach the game hens that her hotel was always bragging about). She made a few friends, grew to love expensive wine and tried cognac for the first time.

And in between all of that, she missed Finn terribly.

It wasn't until ten days in, two nights before Christmas, that she really let herself wallow in the underlying grief that had been haunting her days in Paris. It was easy to pretend if she didn't think about it, but as she stood on the balcony of her cozy room and gazed at the bright lights sprinkled all over the city, the melancholy was overwhelming. She thought about calling her fathers or Kurt or even Carole; she knew that they would all understand on some level. However, no one else would get what she was feeling quite like the boy with hazel eyes that she hadn't seen since the funeral. Rachel wasn't sure why Noah was on her mind, but as soon as she started thinking about him, she couldn't stop and knew that she had to call him.

"Go for Puckerman," a soft voice called over the line. She was lucky that he still had the same cell phone number as he did in high school. "Hello?"

"Noah," she exhaled softly, grateful that he was there on the other end of the line. "I wasn't sure that you would answer."

"Rach, hey," he replied. "I'm on leave for the holidays. I don't go back to the base for another few weeks. Ran into your daddy at Temple, he said you were in Paris. So what do I owe the honor of this little transatlantic phone call?"

She giggled, but that little breathy laugh soon turned into a choked sob. "I miss Finn," she breathed out. "And I didn't know who else to call because no one else would be good enough and I just knew you'd understand. You understand, Noah, don't you?"

She heard a sound on the other end of the phone and could almost imagine him rubbing the back of his neck in the way that he did when he was nervous or confused. "Of course I do, Berry," he assured her. She knew that he did because he was missing Finn too. Puck had always celebrated the holiday with the Hudsons because it wasn't a special day to his own family. "Finn fuckin' loved Christmas, you know? He made it special."

"He was good at that."

"Yeah," Puck chuckled. "He made me special."

"And me."

"Nah, you were already special when Finn found you," he countered. Rachel knew that he meant it too. Finn might have been the first boy who ever changed the way her heart beat, but Noah had been the first boy who ever made her feel like she was really worth it. "And I miss him so much, Berry, I do, but I also miss you. We were all friends, you know, and now I feel like I hardly know anyone."

"You talk to Samuel, and I know that you've sent emails to Santana," she pointed out. "We do live together, Noah. She tells me things now. You could have written to me. You know that I would have written back."

Puck puffed out a breath of laughter into her ear. "So I'll write."

"And call," she added with a laugh before quieting her voice. "Finn would be really proud of you."'

"He'd be proud of you too, Fanny Brice," Puck assured her. "Congratulations, by the way."

"It's nothing..."

"Are you kidding me, Rach? It's everything."

"There is a time when I really would have believed that," she said sadly. "It's nice, don't get me wrong, but New York and Broadway and being a star - it's not everything. The people we love - my fathers and the Hummels and San and..."

"And me?"

"And you," she whispered. "You're everything."

He knew that she meant that as a collective, but he could pretend for a moment that she meant only him. Finn wasn't the only one who made people special; Rachel had done that sophomore year when she decided that she was proud to have him on her arm. She was the first girl to ever see him as more than an impressive set of abs or an escape from their loser husband or the means to popularity. It seemed silly now, but he knew that week where they dated had changed him. He found himself wondering then if she couldn't change him again.

"So how long are you going to be in Paris?"

"Another two weeks," she answered. "I head back to New York the second week of January."

"Well, I have another two weeks before I have to report and a generous amount of money saved that I won't really get to use when I'm stuck on base somewhere. Why don't I do something completely reckless and ditch my family to spend Christmas in Paris with you? I've never been to Europe."

"Noah, you don't have to come."

"I know I don't, babe, but I want to."

She let him go so that he could make hasty arrangements. He emailed her later with the details and a picture of his mom's face when he told her he was flying to Paris to be with that "nice Jewish Berry girl." He also told her that he had gone to see Carole and that she was sending belated Hanukkah gifts for them both that they were to open together on Christmas morning. Rachel sent him a text message to tell him to hurry up and get there. When she finally saw him again hours later at the airport in Paris, she held onto his hand tightly and made sure she spent the better part of the next two weeks never letting go.

And best of all, neither Rachel nor Puck had to spend their first Christmas without Finn alone.


	4. Four Calling Birds

**Four Calling Birds**

"My mom is going to kill me if I'm not home for Christmas Eve dinner."

"Can it, Fabray," Santana snapped, glaring harshly at the blonde seated across from her. "We all have families that are expecting us home for dinner. Your precious mother isn't the only one who is going to be disappointed when you don't show up."

"Santana, I don't think that's what Quinn meant," Rachel told her roommate patiently. She had become an expert at dealing with the spitfire Latina over the past two years. "We all want to get out of here, but we need to come up with a plan before that can happen."

Quinn looked at her pointedly. "It's your fault we're in here in the first place, Manhands," she spat, causing Rachel to physically recoil. It had been a long time since Quinn had used the nickname and she felt bad immediately. "Sorry, Rach, I didn't mean it."

"Yeah, it's going to be okay, Rachel," Brittany promised, throwing her arm around her friend protectively. It was the first time the four of them had been home in Lima at the same time in so long, and Rachel had been looking forward to it ever since her junior year of college began in August. "Aren't we supposed to get a phone call or something? That's what happened that time when Patrick got arrested for accidentally stealing sand dollars and he had to call Sponge Bob."

"Despite that convoluted explanation, Britt's right," Santana realized. She went over to the bars and pounded her fist against the metal loudly. A displeased, tired guard came stalking around the corner. This was the third time Santana had made such a commotion since they had been thrown in here. "Look, aren't we supposed to get a phone call?"

"Yes, my father is a lawyer, and we would hate to have to file a lawsuit with the ACLU because we were denied our basic rights," Rachel spouted off. It had been awhile since she had gotten to make such a threat. "I highly doubt that kind of publicity would be favorable for the Lima Police Department."

The man, who was clearly exhausted from all the crazies that came out during the holidays, looked like he didn't want to be dealing with the four young women. "Fine, whatever," he mumbled. "You can each make a phone call one at a time." He looked at each of the girls before his tired gray eyes settled on Quinn. "Blondie over there can go first. The payphone's broken, so you'll have to use your cell phones. Go up to the front counter. Mickey's holding 'em, but I'll tell him that you are each allowed one call."

The girls huddled around for a moment to make a plan. "Who should I call?" Quinn asked.

"I think we should all call the same person," Rachel proposed. "It's the middle of the night, so they're more likely to answer if they get the same call four times."

"And we can't call our parents," Quinn declared. "My dad will kill me. Who do we know that will have the money and won't ask questions?"

Santana and Rachel exchanged a look. "Puck," Santana replied as Rachel answered, "Noah."

Puck was in the middle of a very enticing dream about Adrianna Lima when his phone rang. He sat up in the dark, reaching blindly for where it was buried on his nightstand beneath a stack of magazines. He saw Quinn's name flashing on the screen and rolled his eyes. She was probably just calling to bitch at him again for what he'd said to her at the Changs' Christmas party a few hours before. It wasn't his fault that she still acted like she was too good for all of them. Not really in the mood to listen to another of her rants or an apology, he hit the ignore button and rolled back over in a vain attempt to recapture his dream.

"Dammit," Quinn muttered before she slid her phone back across the counter to the cop. She shrugged at the other three girls when she was let back into the cell. "He didn't answer. San, you're up."

The Latina rolled her eyes when Mickey fumbled with her phone. She pressed the third speed dial button, the one that Puck had inhabited ever since they started hooking up freshman year. The only ones ahead of him were her voicemail and Brittany. "C'mon, Puckerman, pick up," she groaned to herself, listening fruitlessly as the phone rang and rang in her ear.

Puck seriously considered throwing his iPhone at the wall when it started to blare again. He recognized the ringtone enough to know that it was Santana's, so he didn't even bother checking the phone before he pressed the button on the top to silence it. She had been pretty wasted when he had left Mike's house, which meant that she was probably feeling nostalgic and wanted to hook up. It was something she did at least once a year, but they never actually went through with it. He had made the mistake of kissing her at Finn's house over winter break two years ago, and she had turned into a weepy drunk who sobbed about Brittany and Sam's fake wedding for two hours.

"Fuckin' asshole," Santana hollered when she got back to the cell. "Berry, he's still not answering. Maybe we should try someone else."

"I'll try him," Brittany offered, shaking her blonde ponytail as she bounced on the heels of her feet. The cops all seemed to like her the best of the three, probably because she was still happily buzzed and wearing only a neon yellow bra on her upper half.

Santana groaned and raked her fingers through her dark locks. "There's no way he'll answer for her. Britt only ever calls him in the middle of the night when she needs something stupid."

This is the exact thought Puck had when he saw the half-naked picture of Brittany that she had saved into his phone earlier that night. What was it with the crazy chicks he knew? The last time she had called him at this hour had been his senior year of high school and she had needed help with yet another intervention for her stupid cat. She had started sobbing and honestly, a crying Brittany was just fucking wrong, and he had ended up in her basement along with Finn, Santana and Tina at 2 a.m.

"I don't know why he didn't answer," Brittany pouted.

"I'm sure he's just sleeping, Britt," Rachel reassured her. She patted her friend's blonde hair comfortingly before looking up at the policeman waiting for her. "I guess it's my turn."

She barely heard Santana yell, "This better work, Berry," after her.

Puck picked up his cell phone with the intention of turning it off when he saw Berry's name and grinning face on the screen. "Berry?"

"Oh, Noah," she cried happily. "I need you to come get me."

He was already out of bed, looking for a shirt and his shoes, when she said those words. "I'm on my way," he promised before realizing he had no idea where she was. "Where am I headed?"

"Lima Municipal Jail," she answered sheepishly. "I need you to bail me out."

"What the hell, Berry?"

"I'll explain later," she promised. "I need you get my purse from Daddy's car; it's parked in the 7-11 lot. Bring my wallet so I can pay bail for all of us."

"All of us?"

"Santana, Quinn and Brittany got arrested with me," she explained.

He laughed as he headed out into the December night. "I can't wait to hear that story."

"Just hurry, Noah."

"I'm on my way, babe."

Fifteen minutes later, Puck swaggered up to the jail cell with mischief dancing in his hazel eyes. "Well, if it isn't the four good girls gone bad," he said before narrowing his eyes at Santana. "Well, three good girls and Santana."

"Cute, Puckerman," she snapped. "Why the fuck did you ignore my call? You only answered for Berry over there."

He looked at her and then Quinn and Brittany. "I didn't want to make out with a lesbian, get bitched at by Baby Mama or drive Britt's cat to rehab," he told her dismissively.

"Besides, Noah always answers when I call," Rachel said without thinking. She covered her mouth as soon as she said it. No one knew that they talked and had been with increasing frequency ever since Finn hooked up with Tina in Chicago last year. "Can we get out of here?"

"Sure, babe, I'll take you home," he said, stepping aside to let the cop unlock the door. Rachel flew into his arms. He held her tightly and kissed the top of her head. She knew that it had only been a few hours, but getting arrested was pretty scary. "C'mon, ladies, I have my mom's car. I'll drop you all off too."

He waited while the girls collected their personal belongings from Mickey at the counter. Rachel never let go of his hand the entire time, but he ignored the prying stares from Quinn and Santana in their direction. They were all pretty quiet on the drive over to the Fabrays. Quinn only waved when she climbed out of the car and ran up the driveway, her heels clicking on the pavement and echoing into the night sky. He left Santana and Brittany together at the Pierces' place. Finally, he drove the familiar streets back to the Berrys' house and killed his engine by the curb.

"Santana insulted a cop, and he said something mean back to her. That made Brittany defend her, and he said something about her being stupid. So of course I had to say something," Rachel explained defensively. He hadn't even had to ask, just looked at her with an arched eyebrow and knowing smirk. "Quinn actually was a fairly innocent bystander, but she didn't try to stop me when I pushed him."

"Assaulting a police officer, Berry? I'm impressed."

"You shouldn't be," she said quietly. "I know Daddy won't be when my name shows up in the police blotter section of the paper next week."

She was an adult who lived on her own in New York City, balancing a full slate of classes between performances on Broadway. And yet, she still cared what her father thought. Puck sort of loved that about her. If he was being honest, there was a lot he loved about her. He intended to tell her that too and soon.

"Thanks for picking up when I called, Noah."

He reached across the seat and drew her into his arms, laying a soft kiss against her temple. "I'll always answer, babe," he pledged. "I'll always answer when you call."


	5. Five Golden Rings

**Five Golden Rings**

_Ring._

"C'mon, Noah, please answer."

_Ring._

"Puck, dude, your phone is blowin' up."

_Ring._

"Please pick up. Please, please, please."

_Ring._

"Bro, answer your fuckin' phone."

_Ring._

"Sup?"

"Oh, thank goodness," Rachel exhaled gratefully into her phone. It was an extraordinarily cold night, even for Ohio, and she wasn't dressed for the weather. This wasn't exactly what she had in mind when she convinced Finn to meet her at the Christmas tree lot. "I am so sorry to bother you so late into the evening, but I was hoping that you would be able to give me a ride."

Puck ignored Artie and Mike's prying eyes in favor of focusing on the conversation at hand. He knew that Rachel was supposed to go with Finn to pick out a new tree after Sylvester went all Grinch and stole the one they'd decorated for the choir room. He didn't even care about the tree really, but he still thought it was a shitty thing to do. Rachel had convinced Hudson to go with her in the name of team unity, but they all knew it was her lame attempt to get him back.

"What happened to Hudson?"

"I don't know," she admitted quietly. "He, uh, left me."

"He did what?"

"I don't know what happened, Noah," she cried. Shit, he hated when girls cried, especially Berry. "He was here one minute and then when I turned around, he was gone. And I don't have my car here and my fathers are in Columbus and I don't have anyone else to call."

Puck was already pulling on his worn Converse and searching for his coat in the pile near the door. "I want you to walk up to the little pay booth and wait for me to get there, okay?" he instructed her calmly. "Don't talk to anyone; just stay where you can see the attendant. I'll get there as soon as I can."

"I will," she promised before adding, "Please hurry."

"Chang, dude, your car is blocking me in," Puck hollered when he had disconnected the call. "You either need to move your beater or give me your keys. I need to go get someone."

Artie looked at Puck over the rim of his thick glasses. "That was Rachel, wasn't it?"

Puck shrugged in what he hoped was a nonchalant way. He didn't really want to just throw all her stuff out there. "She needs me to come get her from the tree lot."

"What happened to Finn?" Mike asked as he came back into the room with his keys in his hand. "I thought they were supposed to pick out a tree together."

"Dude, I know. Look, I don't really want to leave her there long," he huffed. It wasn't in the best part of Lima. "You moving or am I driving your car?"

Mike handed over his keys. "Bring her back here to hang out. She shouldn't waste a good night like this alone at home crying in her pillow," he offered. He knew that's exactly what she'd do if Puck took her home. That's what girls like Rachel always did. "I'll see if I can scrounge up anything vegan out of the fridge."

"Thanks, dude," Puck said, bumping his first to Mike's. Chang was good people.

Ten long minutes later, Puck barely remembered to pull the keys from the ignition before he was dashing across the mostly empty lot toward the little hut he knew was in the middle. Rachel was standing outside when he spotted her, visibly shivering in the below-freezing temperature. He pulled off his letterman jacket as he approached her. He waited until he had it wrapped around her narrow shoulders before he pulled her against him.

"You're fuckin' freezing, baby," he murmured against the top of her head. Rachel just barely managed to nod as she buried her face in the warmth of his chest. "Let's get you in the car."

He led her back to where Chang's car was taking up the better part of three spots in the front row. He let her in first, reaching across to jam the key into the slot to start it immediately. Puck made sure to turn all the vents on her once he was back behind the steering wheel. He also turned the station over to some soft rock station he knew played ballads at this time of night. Anything that would distract her was a good idea right now.

"You okay?" he asked softly. "You don't have frostbite or anything, right? I can take you by the hospital and have Ma check you out if you want."

"I'm fine, Noah," she reassured him with a fond smile. "Though I could really go for some coffee if you don't mind stopping somewhere."

"I'm taking you back to Chang's. He has one of those Keurig things, so you can pick out whatever you want. His mom is lactose intolerant, so they always have soy milk too."

She looked down at where her hands were folded in her lap. "Oh, I forgot that it was game night. I didn't mean to interrupt you," she said in a small voice. "You don't have to drag me along. I'll be fine at home."

"Shut up, Berry, don't be stupid," he rolled his eyes. "Chang basically insisted, and we can play teams if you come. I'll even let you be on my team."

So that's how Rachel found herself sitting in the middle of a semi-circle playing a rousing game of Madden with a bowl of popcorn in her lap and an Americano with soy milk by her feet. Their team was getting killed, of course, but she was honestly having fun. The guys teased her endlessly, and Puck didn't even seem to care that she couldn't remember which button was run and which one was tackle. He just grinned at her and patted the top of her head affectionately. He was also doing a good job of ignoring his phone.

"Dude, I've been calling you all..." Finn's voice trailed off as he stomped into Mike's rec room. The three guys turned to look at him. Artie frowned at him in that serious way he did whenever he was disappointed. Mike sneered at him, anger glinting in his dark eyes. Puck just shook his head and went back to staring at the screen. Rachel wouldn't even look up from the controller in her hand. "Uh, Rachel, what are you doing here?"

"Really, Hudson?" Puck asked incredulously. "You left her in the freezing cold and you have the audacity to ask her that? Get the fuck out. Now."

Finn jutted his chin out defiantly, ready to attack. Sensing what was to come, Mike sprung to his feet and pushed the taller boy out of the room. "I think you better go, dude," he told Finn quietly. "You can't hang out here tonight."

"But we had plans."

"And you ditched Rachel and Puck is going to kick your ass if you stay. My mom just got the carpets cleaned. I am not explaining your blood stains to her."

"Fine, whatever," Finn pouted. He stalked out of the house and slammed the door behind him.

"Thanks, bro," Puck said when he came back into the room. Mike noticed that Rachel had moved closer to Puck during his brief absence. His hand lay low on her back. "Let's just get back to the game."

Rachel giggled as the screen jumped back to life. A moment later, she hit pause to freeze the game again. "Wait a second," she announced. "Noah?"

"What, Rach?'

"Audacity?" she grinned. "You've been using that Word of the Day calendar I got you for Hanukah!"

Puck reached over and tugged on one of her curls. "Shut up and play, Berry."


	6. Six Geese A Laying

**Six Geese A Laying**

"Haven't you ever heard that saying, 'What's good for the goose is good for the gander?' That means that this idea, which is quite brilliant by the way, is good for you too, Noah," Rachel told her husband of a year seriously. "Besides, what's the point in living upstate if we don't take full advantage of it?"

Puck was twenty-six, and children were still a year off in Rachel's life plan. That meant that she was finding anything and everything possible to fulfill the blossoming maternal side that had come out over the past couple months. She had become restless after her latest show had ended its two-year run, one that had given her a Tony and enough money to buy an old farmhouse in the Hamptons. Redecorating had been a full-time project for the first month; her sudden urge to actually farm on the homestead had become the next one.

"Baby, despite being from a fairly small town, you're a diehard city girl," he reminded her. He knew that she would be able to do it, but he really didn't want to do it. "You can grow a little patch of organic vegetables in the side yard. I don't think we need to get chickens and a cow."

Rachel smiled at Puck in the way that she always did when she wanted to get her way. "How about a goose then?" she asked sweetly, batting her long eyelashes at him. It always worked like a charm. "Just one that lays eggs. We can hatch a flock and then donate them to the aviary across town that does therapeutic work with the elderly. It's charity, Noah, you can't refuse my need to do a good deed."

And that's how they ended up converting part of their basement into a makeshift place for incubations. He had successfully convinced her to just get the eggs rather than the bird. it was the only way he could be sure that one flock didn't turn into another; he knew that if he gave in too much they'd end up being emu farmers or something. For a girl who was still a diehard vegan, he wasn't sure what good that kind of farming would do her in the long run.

"Noah, are you sure the temperature is right?" she asked the evening they brought the eggs home. It was the day after Thanksgiving. "We have to get it exact to mimic the mother's body temperature. Proper gestation doesn't begin until then."

"I know, Rach," he muttered in frustration. He had read the six pamphlets she had left around the house for him and sat through the half-hour lecture the farmer required before he'd hand over the eggs. "The reading is good, and we have the right light bulb. They'll be fine."

She looked down at the eggs fondly. He couldn't believe how attached she already was to them. "Hey, babies," she said, laying her hand gently against the glass door of the incubator. They were bigger than he had expected. "Noah, they're going to be Christmas babies. We'll have to take pictures to send to Quinn and Sam!"

"Sure, babe," he agreed, leaning over to kiss the top of her head.

They spent the better part of the next month carefully monitoring the six eggs. Rachel continuously worried that they were going to lose one of their babies, as they both had come to call them. She insisted that she be the one to turn them, meticulously monitoring it in a little pink notebook. Puck had to admit that her excitement was contagious, and he looked forward to the time he spent checking on them. He talked to them, even playing a little classical music like he did when Quinn had been pregnant with Beth. He knew it couldn't hurt, even if they were just birds. Rachel had caught him down there more than once, and each time, she smiled at him as if she knew he would be a good father.

Finally, the night that they were supposed to hatch had arrived. For the rest of the world, it was Christmas Eve, but for the Jewish Puckerman household, it was just December 24th. Rachel had everything ready to go, from a box with hay so they could stay warm after they poked their way out of their shells to seed that they would be able to snack on once they got big enough to little droppers of water so they could hand feed them water. Puck had just thrown a few old towels on the floor in case things got gross. Rachel had still beamed at him as if he was the best thing to ever happen.

"Look, Noah, the first one is starting to hatch," she said softly, her voice full of wonder. Puck watched in amazement beside her as its little fuzzy head appeared out of the cracking shell. "We have to let it dry and fluff up before we can get it out. What should we name him?"

"Why are you so sure it's a him?"

"I just know these things, Noah," she grinned. "Now, what's a proper name for our first born?"

"Echad," he replied in Hebrew. "He's the first one; it only makes sense to call him One."

"Echad," Rachel repeated, nodding in confirmation. "I like it." She gazed down at him, fingertips tapping on the glass. "Hello, Echad, we're your mommy and daddy. You're a pretty little baby, aren't you?"

It wasn't too much longer before a second little gosling made its appearance. "This one's a girl," she decided. "And I think we should name her Dot because she had that speckle on her shell."

"Hey, Dot," Puck greeted the fuzzy little bird a few minutes later when he was able to pull her and Echad out. Rachel helped him carefully transfer them into their new home. The two curled up immediately beneath the warming lamp Rachel had just turned on. "There you guys go. Play nice, don't make Mommy come down there."

Over the next several minutes, Rachel and Puck also welcomed Poppy, Bertram and Duke into their new family. Rachel cooed over each gosling as he took them out. They were so soft and fuzzy, their feathers pure white like snow. "You're not going to want to get rid of them," he said to her as they got Duke acquainted with his new surroundings as well as his siblings. "We're going to end up raising six geese, aren't we?"

She smiled up at him. "Like you're not already attached to them."

"Whatever," he shrugged dismissively. He glanced over at the incubator to check on the last egg. "Looks like we got another one."

"Noah, look, he's going to be black!" she said excitedly. He peered over her shoulder at the top of the head just starting to peak out. "We have to name this one Ryan."

"Ryan?"

"Ryan Gosling, Noah," she clarified as if this was supposed to be the most obvious thing in the world. "He's the handsomest little fellow just like his namesake."

Puck waited until Ryan was good to go before he opened the door of the incubator. He let Rachel take him out, her little hands shaking as she lifted him out for the first time. The gosling seemed to almost nuzzle her fingers as she carefully placed him down in the crate with the other babies. She knelt over them, rearranging the hay until everything was just perfect.

"We have to take a picture!" she remembered, reaching for her phone on the counter nearby to snap a quick shot. She also appeared with a pair of paper hats with the number six on it. Puck looked at her like she was crazy, but she didn't care. She just perched the bright hat atop her messy ponytail and grinned. "C'mon, Noah, please. For me and the babies?"

He swore to Sam later that she promised him dirty sex, like the birthday kind.

"They are pretty damn cute," Puck murmured as they looked down on their babies. He had his arm around his wife, who seemed to be getting increasingly tired and quiet by the moment.

"See, Daddy, I told you that you would love them."

Puck kissed the side of her head. "Yeah, we're gonna keep them, huh?"

"We'll see," she replied softly. "Oh, I have one more surprise." He thought she was going to say that she was pregnant for a moment until she handed over a cigar in a baby blue package. "I took a risk that at least one of them would be a boy."

"You're so cute," he grinned. "I love you, baby."

"Love you too, Noah."

Six months later, she surprised him with another cigar, one that did come with a positive pregnancy test that time. They told their six firstborn before anyone else.


	7. Seven Swans A Swimming

**Seven Swans a Swimming**

It rained for three days just before Christmas the first year after Finn died and then the temperature dropped twenty degrees and barely moved above freezing for a full week. And yet, Puck still agreed to do the stupid Polar Plunge when Rachel showed up at his door with a bright smile and a donation form.

"You're the first person who actually agreed," she said excitedly when he handed over the signed commitment form. He already regretted, though maybe a little less when he saw the please smile on her pretty face. "I promised the committee that I would get seven people. I'd do it myself, but I can't risk muscle damage with the show coming up."

Puck started to wish her luck and shut the door behind her so that he could go back to the warm confines of his bedroom. And then she pushed out her bottom lip in the cutest little pout and he found himself agreeing to help her recruit six other guys. "Thanks, Noah!" she chirped, leaning up to kiss him chastely on the cheek. His skin tingled a little beneath her gentle touch. "And if you look in the bottom of that basket I gave your mom earlier, I believe you'll find a loaf of that challah you like so much and some of my best sugar cookies. I even used real eggs just for you."

Later, after he had gone through all the cookies and most of the bread, he headed over to McKinley to catch up with his brother. Jake and Ryder were messing around in the gym, just shooting around on the court, and it reminded him so much of himself and Finn a few years ago. He missed his best friend all the time but it was especially hard when he saw two guys just hanging out. It felt a little fruity if he was honest with himself, but he'd never have another best friend like Finn.

"What are you guys doing on Christmas morning?"

"I don't know, probably the usual," Jake shrugged before lobbing the ball for an easy free throw. "We usually go see a movie and get Chinese. You guys want to hang out again this year?"

Puck looked at his brother. "What? No, that's not what I was asking," he said impatiently. "Look, Berry showed up at my house this morning and she tricked me into doing this stupid charity thing where you jump into the lake or something. You're doing it; you too, Lynn."

Ryder frowned up at Puck. "But we always have pancakes on Christmas morning."

"Well, unless you want me to kick your ass for disappointing Berry, you'll have your dad keep them warm in the microwave," he threatened menacingly. He only half meant it. Puck just didn't want to let Rachel down. She'd been through enough. "Now sign the stupid form so I can get four other fools to agree to this."

Once he had pocketed the paper, Puck headed straight across town to the Hummel household. Carole's entire face lit up when she opened the door. "Noah!" she greeted him cheerfully. "What are you doing here?"

He didn't have the heart to jump right into it, so he told a tiny little white lie that he knew would make her happy. "Just wanted to come by to see my favorite Mom," he said affectionately, using the nickname he'd always used for her. Finn had always called Puck's mother Ma. "Are you guys almost ready for Christmas?"

She led him into the living room, and he tried not to think about how wrong it felt to see Finn's stocking missing from the oak mantle. He could still see some of the familiar ornaments on the big tree in the corner, some of which he and Finn had made in grade school back when the Lima Public School District didn't seem to care that he was Jewish. His favorite had always been a candy cane they'd made out of twisted red and white pipe cleaners.

"Yes, I'm excited to have Kurt and Burt home," she smiled happily. "I thought that one or the other would be stuck out of town, but they both managed to get back here in time. Kurt just got in last night, in fact."

"I'll have to say hello before I leave," he grinned, mentally already preparing how he'd convince the prissy man to risk his porcelain skin in the frigid temperatures. "I'm still going to come over for Christmas dinner, right? You know I look forward to that ham all year long."

Carole reached out and patted his hand. He'd always spent it with them. "Of course, honey," she agreed affectionately. "Rachel is going to come too. It'll be nice to have you kids here."

Puck spent several minutes catching up with Carole before excusing himself to the basement. He could hear the terrible pop music as soon as he was halfway down the stairs. Blaine's familiar voice echoed off the walls. "God, don't you ever stop?" Puck mumbled, scratching at the back of his neck in false irritation. "What's up?"

Kurt looked at him with wide eyes. They hadn't really talked much since the whole letterman jacket thing happened earlier in the year. "What are you doing here?"

"Came to see Mom," he answered carelessly. He didn't owe Kurt any explanations. "And to make sure that you two were on board to do this charity thing Berry's organizing."

"She already talked to me, and I had to refuse," Kurt told him hotly. "I can't risk frostbite."

Blaine seemed less bothered by the risk. "I've done the Polar Plunge before. It's actually kind of fun," he proclaimed as he took one of the sign-up forms from Puck. He read quickly over the specifics before grabbing a fancy silver pen from Kurt's vanity. "Anything for Rachel."

Puck moved his gaze back to Kurt. "Beyonce?"

"Stop calling me that; you know my name," he huffed. "I guess I could consider it…"

"Look, dude, I'd usually go to Finn for this stuff, but you know," he murmured. He knew it was a little weak to play the guilt card, but it was actually sort of true. "I don't know, dude, I think he'd like it if we did it together. We were his bros, you know?"

"My name is Kurt," he retorted, although a little less harshly this time. "But Finn would like it."

Puck knew that he had him on the line, something that was confirmed a few minutes later when Kurt signed his big, loopy signature on the dotted line with a flourish. "Thanks, Kurt," Puck said pointedly, actually meaning it. He was mostly grateful that he only had to track down two more suckers. "Berry will get you all the details. I'm sure she has some form email she's just waiting to send."

He didn't have to wait too much longer to land his next target as Sam came bounding down the stairs then. "Blaine, dude, why didn't you tell me you were back in town?" he asked his best friend excitedly. Both Kurt and Puck had to wonder a little which one was of the homosexual persuasion as they watched the lanky blonde jump up and down before throwing himself at the shorter brunette. They both squealed like little girls. "I can't believe you're here!"

Sam had stayed in town to go to OSU – Lima with Puck. The two of them were going to share an apartment next semester now that Puck had officially decided that the Air Force maybe wasn't for him. He wanted to be a teacher, maybe because he felt like someone needed to finish what Finn set out to do. Mr. Schuester had even agreed to let him help out with the glee club provided that he stay away from the girls.

"Dude, quit being a chick," Puck announced finally. "Look, I need you to sign this. We're going to jump in a freezing lake so Berry can raise money for sick kids. Don't argue, you're doing it and you're going to do it in that Speedo you're so fond of."

He didn't bother waiting for Sam's reply. He just threw the paper and a pen at him, tapping his food impatiently until he signed it messily. "Cool, see you dudes later," he shot off before stomping up the stairs. Carole wasn't in the kitchen when he went through, but that didn't stop him from snatching a cookie off the platter on the counter.

Chang was getting the mail when he pulled up to his house. Puck was able to convince the dancer easily enough. He'd always had a soft spot for Berry, and he'd actually been a patient at the hospital when he was a kid himself. They ended up playing a game of Halo for old time sake, something that used to be a weekly ritual back when it was just him and Finn and Matt and Chang. He missed those days more than he let on. He also invited him to the Hummels for Christmas dinner.

"A lot of the old gang will be there if you can come," he said. "Carole would love to see you."

"Sure, man, I'm there," he promised kindly. "And I'll me there Christmas morning."

As promised, when Christmas morning rolled around, Blaine, Kurt, Sam, Mike, Ryder, Jake and Puck all showed up at Lima Park ready to jump feet first into the freezing pond. Kurt had even made them all matching shirts, ones that were actually pretty decent and had "For Finn" printed in bold black writing across the front. He even handed over a small version for Rachel, which of course made her cry. And afterward, when she had handed out heated towels and hot cocoa to her seven freezing swans, she cozied up next to Puck and smiled at him in this really hot but adoring way that reminded him yet again that it was worth it – that she was worth it.

She held his hand when they walked to his truck and still as they drove across town to the Hummels and all through dinner. No one was surprised when they were officially together by New Years.


	8. Eight Maids A Milking

**Eight Maids A Milking**

"I'm in love with you," he said before turning on his heel to stomp out of the room. "I just needed you to know that."

Rachel stood alone breathless in his wake. The party was buzzing all around her. Everyone they both knew was at the Hummel house for Kurt's annual tree trimming party he'd started the year that Burt and Carole got married. Blaine and Mercedes were already halfway through a bottle of spiked eggnog and singing drunken carols in the corner while Sam backed them up on guitar. Brittany was perched in Artie's lap, laughing with an entwined Tina and Mike near the sofa. Santana and Quinn were arguing loudly by the tree while Kurt carefully arranged them so that they didn't break any of his prized ornaments. Finn was asleep on the floor near the piano, curled up in a ball.

One minute she had been standing there, helping Puck put the angel on top of the tree for Kurt, and the next minute he had been staring at her. He'd grabbed her by the elbow and dragged her over to the doorway. She was shocked to hear his words. He never really paid much attention to her anymore, not since that week sophomore year when they hooked up and then that stupid kiss thing that had broken her and Finn up. She knew that he was angry with her after that happened, but everything was different now. They were both seniors and in the midst of planning their futures. She could see so clearly what she wanted in New York and knew that he was making plans to go to California. They both wanted Finn to go with them, but she was starting to realize that he probably wasn't going to go with either.

She started to comb through the house in search of the missing boy. She checked the basement first, almost sure she'd find him curled up with a video game controller like she had so many Friday evenings when she'd come by to visit her boyfriend. Once she found the rec room empty, she headed all the way upstairs to check Finn's bedroom. Rachel was a little less surprised that he wasn't there. Eventually, she just decided to head to the kitchen. Her hands were shaking and she could use some warm water.

He was sitting at the table when she came in. Rachel glanced over at Puck quickly, thinking that she'd see a beer in front of him. Instead, she saw a mug of cold milk and a pair of chocolate chip cookies she recognized as her own. Rachel slowly and meticulously poured herself a tall glass of water from the filtered pitcher in the fridge. It hit her as she stood there at the sink with her back to him. He had said those words sober.

"Why did you say that?" she asked as she sat down across from him. She folded her hands around the glass, allowing her blunt nails to tap idly to create a dim tingling sound.

Puck took a big bite of a cookie and shrugged. "Because it's true."

"But why now?" she questioned him desperately. She was confused and maybe a little afraid. "And for how long?"

"Awhile, maybe since sophomore year," he answered without really thinking about it. "Don't know why now. It's Christmas, it seems like the kind of thing you say at this time of year."

She shook her head. "We're Jewish, Noah."

"Doesn't make the fact that I love you any less true," he declared before dipping his cookie in the milk. He chewed slowly but never broke his gaze from hers. "Look, I know the timing is really shitty but I feel like I am running out of chances. School's almost over and you might as well be married to Hudson. I'll always wonder if I don't say it now. He's my best friend; he'll never forgive me once you tell him. But I do and you have the right to know. I'm not telling you to pick me, but I'd be lying if I said I hope you don't."

She looked down into her water glass thoughtfully. "There was a time when I didn't have a single friend," she remembered. "I never thought anyone would like me, and now, I'm at my boyfriend's house and his best friend is telling me that he's in love with me. For a girl who once thought she'd die an Old Maid, it's a lot to take in."

"First of all, thinkin' like that is just fuckin' stupid, babe," he admonished her with a genuine smile. "I don't know why I love you, Berry. If you asked me to explain it, I couldn't. All I know is that I chose you once over everything, and right now, I'm doing that again. I told Finn I'd stay away from you, and I'm willing to break that promise if it means that I get to have you. It's probably a dumb thing to do. I just gotta though."

She remembered briefly the afternoon he had shown up to the choir room at the stroke of three and effectively ended his football career. Of course, that had all worked out, but he had been willing to sacrifice his sport and his reputation for the chance to date her. Rachel had always known that he lied that day on the bleachers, but she didn't get how much that lie had cost him until that very moment. It was enough to make her push away the glass and reach across the table for his hand.

"You know that I care about you, Noah."

"But you love Finn?" She nodded slightly. She wouldn't lie to him, not when he had been brave enough to tell her the truth. "Well, then I guess that's that."

He finished the rest of the milk and popped the last bite of cookie into his mouth. He came over and bent down, capturing her lips in a brief and not-so-chaste kiss. "Don't let him hold you back," he whispered. And then he walked out of the kitchen, letting the backdoor clam loudly behind him.

Rachel didn't see or speak to Noah for a week after that. However, on the first night of Hanukkah, a little plastic milk maiden doll showed up in her locker with a note. "Even if you were a maid, you'd always be the hot kind," his messy scrawl promised her. She smiled and tucked it behind the corner of her mirror. By the end of the holiday, she had a complete set of eight in different color dresses, all with dark hair and eyes like hers. They were silly little tokens, something that probably came out of those quarter machines at the supermarket.

Each one had also come with a note, though none of them repeated the words he had said to her at the Hummels' house nearly two weeks ago. She wasn't sure why she was so desperate to hear them again or why hearing them from Finn was starting to have a diminishing impact. It's that lack of forsight that had her driving across town on Christmas Eve to Puck's house. She should have already been at Finn's to go with them to the midnight service, something she found kind of pointless but he found really important.

"Say it again," she said as soon as he opened the door.

He looked down at her and shook his head. "Not when you're back on your way to Finn."

"Please, Noah," she implored, reaching out to tug on the hem of his hooded sweatshirt. "I just need…please."

"Rachel, no," he repeated. "You have to stop. I'm not going to say it and then watch you leave me to go play the perfect girlfriend for Christmas. It's not fair."

"To you or to him?"

Puck shook his head sadly. "To any of us."

She started to go back down the stairs to where her car was still running in the Puckerman driveway when she turned around. He was watching her with wide hazel eyes. "I love you too," she said quietly. It was enough to make him lunge forward.

He picked her up, her feet just a few inches off the ground, and buried his face in her hair. She wasn't sure where the words – or the feelings really – came from, but that didn't make them any less heartfelt. Noah had always been there, somewhere in the background, holding onto a piece of her heart. She knew the thing she had with Finn had an expiration date, but she didn't know that with Noah.

"I…" she trailed off, pulling back in his arms to look at him. "I can't break up with him on Christmas."

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I know," he agreed. "We'll figure it out. For now, this enough."

Wonder glittered in her dark brown eyes. "I'm enough?"

"Of course, baby," he promised. "You're always going to be more than I deserve. You've always been enough."


	9. Nine Ladies Dancing

**Nine Ladies Dancing**

Rachel Berry had no idea what New York held for her, but she knew that it at least had a coveted position in the corps of the New York City Ballet. She knew that it had a crowded company apartment she was going to share with three other girls and an appointment Monday morning for a costume fitting. They were starting "The Nutcracker" in just a few weeks, and the seventeen-year-old Ohioan would be one of nine ballerinas dancing in the background during the powerful solo from the Nutcracker Prince. It wasn't a solo for her, but she knew that good things were to come. It was already infinitely better than doing another season as Clara in the paltry version afforded by the JCC's minuscule budget.

She saw Noah Puckerman for the first time on Monday morning when they filed into the large studio for company class. Dress rehearsals were that afternoon, and their little group of nine was scheduled to dance his backup just after two o'clock. The twenty-four-yer-old male principle was strong and bronzed, just like the image in the posters that littered the streets for blocks. He stood off to the side talking to a tall Asian man that Rachel knew to be Michael Chang, one of the company's top choreographers, and Blaine Anderson, a shorter brunette that was typically cast as his understudy.

The three men seemed to be talking about the fresh group of dancers that had come to New York for the winter season. She watched Blaine point across the room to a porcelain-skinned boy Rachel had met during her own audition. Kurt Hummel was from Ohio just like her and already had caught the eye of a few of the top decision makers at NYCB. Mike nodded toward Brittany Pierce, a statuesque blonde from Southern California who had been the only freshman dancer to land a solo piece. Puck, as he was known, seemed less than interested in the conversation. He was only staring at Rachel.

She blushed beneath his steady gaze, briefly daring to bring her eyes from where she was checking her extension to meet his in the mirror behind the barre. His eyes darkened visibly when she bit down on her bottom lip. Rachel was just about to return the smile when she felt the energy in the room change. Puck winked at her before he dragged his own stare to the front of the room.

"Hello, my name is William Schuester," a curly-haired man announced as he took his place at the front of the room next to the piano. There was a nondescript man with glasses seated behind the keys. "This is our accompanist, Brad, and most of you should know our choreographer, Michael Chang, by now. Before we get started, I should remind you that if you have not yet seen our costumer, Mercedes Jones will be waiting in the room just down the hall so her team can get your measurements."

"I know that this is the first performance many of you, so let me warn you now. We will be working many long hours over the coming weeks before we go into previews. I expect every move to be flawless, and my team will be watching you with the upmost of critical eyes to ensure that we have exactly the kind of performance our company is known for," he told them. "And now, let me introduce the two key principals in this production of 'The Nutcracker.' Dancing the lead role of Clara is Quinn Fabray, and she will be accompanied by Noah Puckerman as the Nutcracker Prince."

The petite blonde bowed gracefully. She had a reputation for being a total ice queen. Puck seemed to balance that out next to her, full of fire and oh, so, hot. Rachel felt herself shiver a little when he caught her eye. "He seems to have taken an interest in you," a pretty Asian girl said from beside her. "You should be honored. He finds one every season, and they always end up climbing the ranks of the company. How do you think Quinn first got noticed? I'm Tina, by the way. I think we're dancing together this afternoon."

Several hours later, Rachel had made friends with not only Tina but also Brittany and a New York native named Kitty. The four of them were all slotted to dance in the group number with Puck. He was already on stage warming up when they filed in with the other girls. He looked powerful as he jumped up and down, the sound of his feet against the wooden stage surprisingly light. Mike stood nearby watching him, commenting every so often with a correction or a word of praise.

"Alright, ladies, we're going to need you all to just line up and go through the number a few times," Mike instructed them after Puck had cleared off and joined him in the front row of velvet seats. "Once we see what we're working with, I will arrange you in your final places. Brad will play you in."

Rachel closed her eyes and allowed the warmth of the house lights to wash over her. This was how she got into her moment. Second laters, the familiar piano tune guided her movements, and she danced on automatic. She didn't look down at Puck for fear of missing a step. She just watched the other girls out of her periphery to make sure she kept proper spacing and pasted her best serene show smile on her face. And when the song drew to an end, she returned to the starting position so she could do it all again.

Mike stopped them after a third run-through. The girls held in their places as Puck and Mike bent their heads to talk. A third person, a curvy Latina she'd heard someone call Santana once, came over to join them with a small video camera in her hand. The final arrangement called for six girls to line the back with one flanking each side more toward the front. The ninth dancer would be center stage with the Nutcracker Prince. It was a new piece of choreography that Mike had just introduced this year. Getting prime placement would really help her get noticed, and with Brittany among her competition, she knew the best she could hope for was one of the side positions.

"That's what I want," she heard Puck demand. "I don't care, Lopez. I'm dancing up there, and I know what's going to work for me."

The woman glared at him, but Mike nodded understandingly as he scribbled some notes down. "Okay, ladies, in the back row from left to right, we will have Harmony, Sugar, Tina, Marley, Danielle and Sunshine. The front left position will go to Kitty, and Brittany, honey, we want you to take the right side. That leaves Rachel down in front to dance with Puck. Everyone got it?"

Rachel tried not to be too nervous as they took their places. Puck stopped to thank each of the girls before he finally came to her. "Why me?" she asked in a soft voice. "I mean, surely Brittany would do a better job."

"Because I chose you," he told her in a low voice. "And my choices are never wrong."

She knew they had chemistry from the very first time they danced together. He lifted her higher than she had ever been, and her movements felt stronger, more confident, than she had danced in such a long time. Whenever she felt lost for even a moment, she could look to him and he'd bring her right back. It felt like they had been partnered for years as they worked through the first run of the pas de deux. Despite the fact that he had done three seasons in the male lead of "The Nutcracker," she couldn't imagine him ever dancing this with anyone else. It felt like it was made just for them.

"Wow," he exhaled after they were done, bent slightly so that his hands rested on his knees. "That was...you were incredible."

She could tell by the surprise in his voice that it was genuine. "It's not usually like that for me."

"Me either," he admitted. He reached out and grabbed her wrist. "Mike has a few things he wants to change to up the degree of difficulty. We could start now if you wanted."

"Sure, just let me grab a drink and we'll get back into it," she grinned. Rachel genuinely loved ballet and would spent every waking hour dancing if she could. She jogged off toward her pink bag to take a long pull off her water bottle. Tina and the others were gathering their stuff to go.

"You surprised Puck," she praised her new friend. "No one ever surprises Puck. And he's actually excited to dance. I haven't seen him like that for so long."

"You've known him for awhile then?"

"Yeah, Mike and I used to have a thing when I first came to the company," she explained dismissively. Rachel would have to get that story later. "He's usually so cool about everything, never lets it show that he actually cares. But with you, just now, that was all gone. It's kind of cool to see. We were all starting to worry that he was losing his drive. Puck's our leader, you know? Blaine's great, and there's a guy coming up, Sam Evans, that has potential. But they're nothing like Noah Puckerman."

Rachel looked across the stage to where Puck was waiting for her. He was talking to the tall guy from the front office, Finn Hudson. "You ready, Rach?" Puck called out. She nodded and took one last swill front her bottle before hugging Tina quickly. "Rach, this is Finn Hudson. He's my best friend. He has a guy from publicity that needs to take a few stills so they can send out an update to donors. You don't mind being my co-star, do you?"

"Shouldn't Quinn do that?"

"I chose you, remember?" he grinned. She blushed and nodded. "Good girl."

The chemistry must have been evident in those photographs as well because by the time opening night had rolled around, it was Rachel and Puck's number that everyone was talking about. Rachel had heard mumblings that Quinn hated her because she had stolen some of the spotlight from the lead, but she was too caught up in her own nervousness to pay attention. That anxiety ebbed a little when she came into her shared dressing room that evening to find a dozen white roses waiting in a vase on her little vanity. Puck had signed his name with a row of x's that made her stomach turn over in the best way possible. He kissed her for the first time after the show, behind the swell of thick red velvet curtains, while everyone was looking for them. Puck held her hand all throughout the cast party and he kissed her again on the curb when she went out to meet the cab waiting to take her, Kitty, Marley and Sugar back to their apartment.

"Hey, Noah?" she said, tugging on the bottom of his faded hoodie. She never called him Puck much to his chagrin.

"Hmm?"

"I'm really glad you chose me."

"Me too, babe," he said before leaning in to kiss her again. "I told you that my choices are never wrong."


	10. Ten Lords A Leaping

**Ten Lords A Leaping**

"You're all going to this class and you're going to dance and you're going to like it."

Puck recoiled visibly as Coach Beiste slammed her hands against the wall of metal lockers and dismissed the team for the night. They had been at practice for hours, and no matter how hard they tried, the team chemistry just wasn't there. Beiste had tried pretty much everything she knew to get the ten players before her on the same page during their winter conditioning but nothing was working. So when she decided to force them into a twice-weekly ballet class, they were all pretty much willing to do whatever it took to get a winning record and not piss her off any further. Puck only had one more season of football left, and he wanted to make every game count when he started his senior year the next fall.

"You heard her," Finn told the crowded locker room on that December afternoon. "We're doing this."

"As your captains, Finn and I will see to it that every one of you shows up for each class," Puck pledged. "We're going to do this and we're going to do it together. Tons of the best football players in the NCAA and NFL take dance to help improve their agility and balance. We're doing it to improve our teamwork."

While there was a good deal of grumbling, everyone seemed to accept their fate. Mike was the only one that seemed excited, but that was mostly because the class was one that he already regularly attended. Puck wasn't exactly psyched about the prospect of spending two nights a week dancing around like a princess fairy or whatever, but at least there would be girls there. He figured that was a much more attractive sight than seeing Karofsky's ass in the shower or Evans sweating it out in the weight room.

Rachel, however, didn't seem as thrilled to have her masters' class taken over by the entirety of the McKinley High Titans football team. She had stayed away from all things football since Finn had broken up with her the previous spring. She had no use for the sport, and she got all the school spirit and team unity she needed with the glee club. She had argued with her teacher that it was far too advanced for novices like them, but the old Russian woman had simply insisted that it would be good for her to help out if she wanted to make extra money teaching classes when she moved to New York.

"Alright, everyone to the barre," Rachel announced, clapping her hands briskly as she moved to the front of the room. Mike took the other side of the barre next to her so they could lead everyone through the warm-ups. "Now, you'll want to move into first position and start stretching through the legs. Keep your plié slow and smooth, bending at the knees as low as you can while keeping your arm fluid to your right. Watch Mike and myself to see the proper posture."

Rachel and Mike each did a pair of pliés, bending gracefully low to the ground and then raising back up to standing first position fluidly. Mike continued as she started walking down the line of boys to check their stances. "Finn, hold your neck long and keep your eyes focused straight ahead," she told him softly before she stopped to adjust Azimo's arm. "Very nice, just keep it steady. It might be hard at first, but your body will adjust as it gets used to the movement."

"Okay, Sam, just move your feet a little bit closer. Make sure to keep your heels together, feet planted firmly on the ground," she explained patiently. Puck was surprised at how good she was at this. She was terrible at teaching in glee, always growing furious when someone refused to take her notes or adapt their style to fit hers. "David, you're doing wonderful. Slow your timing a little and you'll be able to really keep the movement smooth. Measured movement can really help with your endurance."

Puck thought about making a lewd joke there, but he stopped himself when Rachel paused by him. He winked at her as he tried to do the best plié he could. He wasn't sure why, but he suddenly felt it necessary to impress her. "Good job, Noah," she said with a smile. She reached out to loosen his grip on the barre before moving down the line a little bit further.

They didn't get much further than first and second positions during the first week, but all the guys had to admit that they were already feeling the improvement. Sure, they had sore muscles and they never talked about ballet outside class or the locker room, but none of them actively seemed to hate it. Azimo even admitted that Rachel was a pretty decent teacher, though it did come with a crass comment about how her legs looked in tights. Puck didn't bother to pretend that he didn't mean to slam the lineman into the water fountain that afternoon.

Puck stayed late after the fourth class. His legs had been a little achy after all the stretching. He wasn't used to moving his body in the ways that they did during the dance class, so he thought he'd spend a few extra minutes to make sure that his muscles weren't sore later. He was flexing his quad in the mirror when Rachel came out of the changing room dressed in the same violet argyle sweater and black skirt she'd worn to school that day.

"You're still here," she said. Her wide eyes and surprised tone gave her away. "Is there a problem?"

"Just wanted to cool down a little," he said before collapsing to the ground. He pulled his feet in to stretch out his calves. "You don't have to stay. Chang's in talking to your teacher, so he'll make sure I clear out."

Rachel shook her head. "It's not that. I'm just a little surprised. There's no rush," she assured him. He watched her toy with the handle of her pink trolley bag. "Is there something I can help you with? I know some good stretches that help with under-utilizec muscles. I don't get them often, but I've been dancing for years. I'm very flexible."

Puck shrugged (and ignored her last comment) as she came over to start manipulating his body. He had to admit the burn felt surprisingly good. "So any plans for winter break?" he asked conversationally. His plans mostly consisted of sleeping late, watching his sister and taking these two classes. Hannukah was early this year, so the holidays were already over for him.

"Just dance and voice lessons," she told him. "Everyone is busy with Christmas and whatnot."

"Maybe we could do something, you know, in Jew solidarity or whatever."

She seemed a little surprised. "That would be nice," she decided. "Maybe next week after class?"

"Yeah, you can show off some of that flexibility," he teased her.

By the time the next week rolled around, Mike and Rachel had the nine other players actually doing a series of tiny jumps across the floor. The leaps were simple and not too high, but they managed a decent grace as they moved around the room in pairs and trios. Puck wasn't surprised that Evans was light on his feet, but the fact that Finn managed to jump without tripping over his feet was an incredible feat. He even heard Karofsky say that it might help them when hockey season rolled round in January, and Puck was thinking himself about the improvements it could have on his basketball game.

When they were done, Rachel came to the front of the room beaming. She applauded the guys. "You looked so great out there!" she told them cheerfully, reaching over to pat Karofsky on the shoulder and smile at Finn. "I know that you're football players and not dancers, but watching you now, I couldn't tell that."

Mike led them through a quick cool down before they escaped into the chilly December air. Puck lagged behind to wait for Rachel so they could head over to the vegan pizza place that had just opened up downtown. She came out wearing jeans and a hooded sweatshirt that he recognized as his own. "I stole it last week when you left it here after practice," she admitted. "I hope you don't mind."

He didn't mind at all. In fact, he thought it was pretty perfect to see her standing there, wearing his number. "Look hot," he muttered before slinging his arm around her shoulders. "Just don't expect me to wear one of your leotards. I don't do sequins, babe."

"Tights then," she taunted with a mischievous smile. He hip checked her and then reached down for her hand.

As he helped Rachel up into his truck, he decided that Coach Beiste had been right. He had gone to class and he had danced and he had liked it. It had given him this moment, this second chance, and he didn't intend to waste a single moment of it.

* * *

_I just loved ballet!Puck so much that I had to have another (different) taste. I hope you're enjoying. Review and let me know what you'd like to see in the final two installments of this series. No sequels or continuations, please._


	11. Eleven Pipers Piping

**Eleven Pipers Piping**

So Puck develops this habit, and Rachel, well, she kind of develops a kink and that's how their daughter got her name.

It begins right after she gets pregnant. He'd always been one for vices, but from the moment the doctor told them that they were expecting, she forbade him from drinking. "If I can't have a glass of champagne, you can't have beer," she insisted, putting her foot down. She'd had terrible morning sickness and her hormones were insane and honestly, he was kind of scared of his wife right now. He agreed easily and did his best to find new ways to take the edge off. Once she decided that pregnancy also meant that she wasn't putting out, he ran out of ways to keep himself entertained.

He tried everything he could think of that first month. He joined a new boxing gym and took the time he usually spent on guys' night out to hit the punching bag for a few hours. He invested in a new headset and an expensive video game to take part in Finn, Artie and Sam's massive online gaming tournament. He started running twice a week in the park. He even agreed to go with Rachel to one of her organic cooking classes. Anything to distract him from doing the one thing (okay, two things) that she wouldn't let him do.

And it wasn't like he even drank that much to begin with. He just didn't like hearing that he couldn't do something. He had actually considered going against her once when the guys from work invited him for a nightcap after a particularly long recording session, but the thought of lying to her was enough to send him home in a cab instead. The smell was enough to send her running for the bathroom when Kurt and Blaine had stopped by with a bottle of wine to share over dinner, and he really didn't want to watch her recreate "The Exorcist" again.

Eventually, he finds the one thing that she's willing to allow him to do because she never did it in the first place. Puck hadn't smoked more than the occasional social cigarette since high school, but when a pair of clients from Honduras invite him to a cigar bar one evening, he figures it'd be a decent night out. Rachel didn't even complain when he called her in the limo on the way to check in. She only asked him to shower when he got home and to change his clothes in the laundry room so their hamper didn't smell like smoke. He didn't question it when he hung up without an argument. Whatever got him by at this point was what he was going for.

He's surprised when he comes into the bar and smells something distinctly fruity. It wasn't at all like the musky vanilla odor he remembers from high school. "It's pipe tobacco," one of the men, a flamenco musician, explained to him in thickly accented English. "It's very good. You should try it."

Fast forward to several hours later, and Puck came home with a sachet of the delicious-smelling tobacco and a new hand-carved wooden pipe that had set him back a few bones. Rachel was in the living room when he came in. He was surprised that she was still awake since she had taken to going to bed earlier and earlier. The baby wasn't due until December, but she was already pouring over schedules and lists like the birth could happen any minute.

"Sorry, babe, just let me go change," he apologized on his way through the living room of their loft.

"Did you bring home pie?"

He stopped and looked at her. "What? No, why? Do you want some? I can make a quick run…"

"I smell fruit, like a pie," she told him. Her cravings had been random, and he had stopped pointing out when they failed to meet her vegan standards. "Whatever it is, it smells delicious."

"Probably the tobacco I got for the pipe," he said, patting the pocket of his shirt. "I'll stash it in my office so that it doesn't make you sick. And don't worry, I'll smoke outside or when I'm out."

She didn't seem fond of the idea of him smoking with any real regularity. "It'll hurt your voice, Noah, you have to be careful," she said even as she crossed the room. And then she pressed her face into his chest and inhaled deeply, humming appreciatively as the fruity scent infiltrated her nose. "You smell yummy." He realized he could use that to his advantage about the time she grabbed him by the hand and led him back to their bedroom.

By the time she's well into her second trimester, he can safely say that her acceptance of his occasional guilty pleasure has definitely turned into something he can count on. He'll go out for a smoke sometimes when she's having a bad day just so she can smell him without having to inhale the fumes. It weirdly seems to calm her down every time, and he had managed to stop more than one fight that way. The baby also seems to like the scent. She's always super responsive right after, and Rachel insists it's because her good mood helps create a happier womb environment. He's not sure what it is, but the expensive tobacco he smokes every few days is definitely a luxury well worth it.

However, that happiness flew out the window the last month before the baby was born. Rachel was in full-on nesting mode and had decided that he had to wean himself off of the pipe tobacco before Christmas. "It really is a nasty habit, Noah," she said, even as she kissed the smell right off his mouth. He laughed against her lips but agreed easily. "I promise you she'll be worth it."

He did pretty good until the night that Rachel went into labor. The baby, of course, had come on Christmas night in the middle of the worst blizzard to hit Manhattan in a decade, and Rachel had been at it for hours when the doctor encouraged him to take a walk to clear his head. He found himself outside the front doors, inhaling in the brisk air and reaching for the pipe he still carried with him out of habit. She smells it as soon as he comes back up to check on her, and he's so freaking grateful when she doesn't throw a fit. Instead, she grabs his hand and murmurs that he smells good and groans in pain a minute later when the contractions really start to kick in.

It's just the three of them in the room an hour later.

"What should we name her?" he asked, looking down at one of the two most beautiful girls to ever be born in the history of the world. He missed Beth and couldn't wait until she could fly in to see her baby sister.

"I've been thinking about that," she said. "There's only been one thing that's gotten us both through this pregnancy."

"Love?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "God, no," she laughed. "That stupid pipe of yours."

"Um, okay."

"Piper, Noah," she clarified. "I think we should name her Piper."

* * *

_Author's Note: This is a work of FICTION. Please don't smoke; we all know the health risks. Thanks for reading!_


	12. Twelve Drummers Drumming

**Twelve Drummers Drumming**

"I need your help."

Puck looked across the table at his best friend. Finn grinned as he threw his arm around his wife, allowing his hand to slide along her side until his fingers were splayed over Santana's swollen stomach. She was pregnant with their second kid, a little boy that Puck hoped took after his father. The world couldn't handle a male version of Santana Hudson.

'You know that December is a huge month for Rach," he reminded them. "With her dad being sick, it's been a really hard year for her. I want to do something really special to celebrate her 30th birthday and our anniversary. That's where you guys come in."

Puck and Rachel had gotten together the summer before their senior year when Finn had gone away to some football camp and Lauren had broken up with him when she found someone at wrestling camp. They'd both been roped into helping with swim lessons at the JCC, and there was still nothing hotter than Rachel in a two-piece. They'd gotten married on a lark that same December, just a few days after she turned 18. She wasn't pregnant and their parents weren't trying to keep them apart. There was no real reason for them to get married then, but they had been young and in love. Twelve years later, Puck had never once regretted his decision.

"Alright, Puckerman, what do you have in mind?" Santana asked. She was even moodier than she had been with their first spawn. He would have thought that motherhood would have calmed her down, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. The only people she was actually tender with anymore were the kid, Finn, Brittany and surprisingly, Rachel. They'd gotten really close over the past several years of their husbands being best friends. "And it better be good. She gets back from her fathers' house in Boca on Saturday, and I've made it my personal mission to make sure she doesn't spend her birthday all kinds of sad."

He couldn't help but smile at the woman across from him. San had always been his girl, and getting to live just down the street from the two of them had been an incredible blessing for all of them. Rachel had been sad when they had left New York, but it had been her decision. An exhausting run in a string of successful plays had left her yearning for the simplicity of Lima, so she had informally retired when she decided that she wanted to start a family. Eli had been born a year later and Miriam had followed two more years after that. Now, she was happy to spend her days being a mother while Puck still managed his songwriting career with the same company he'd worked for in New York.

"I was thinking that Finn could maybe talk to the band teacher and borrow some drums. I have some old friends coming into town, and Rachel always responds best to music," he smirked. It was the same signature look that had dropped panties and garnered detentions in high school. "Everyone else is coming in on Friday night so we'll have some time to practice."

"Practice what?" McKinley's music teacher asked. Finn had taken over for Schuester when he'd moved to Philadelphia with the former Miss Pillsbury six years ago.

"Our musical number," Puck answered. "The Glee Club is getting back together."

The rest of the week flew by, and before Puck knew it, he was dropping Eli off at his best friend's house for a sleepover and leaving Miri with his mom so that he could head to the airport. Part of the old gang was already there waiting when he pulled up in one of the big passenger vans he had borrowed from Burt's new dealership. The man had four in the Lima area now. Finn wasn't too far behind with Santana belted into the passenger seat.

"It's so good to see you guys!" Tina said excitedly as she rushed around her husband's wheelchair to hug Finn and then Santana. Artie was busy shaking hands with Puck and showing him the latest photos of their daughter on his iPhone. "I just heard them announce a flight from New York. We could go down and meet them."

Puck still couldn't believe that all their friends had ended up paired off. He and Rachel had been the first to marry, though Sam and Brittany hadn't been too far behind them. The two of them had wanted to go to New York for college, and her father hadn't been too keen on sending her to the Big Apple on her own. In their weird, twisted blonde logic, they had thought getting married was the only way to go. However, it had worked out for the best, and Puck secretly thought that he had never seen two people more in love. They were pretty perfect for each other.

"Brit Brit!" Santana cried as she waddled over happily to embrace her pregnant best friend. The blonde squealed as she threw her arms around the Latina, both of them hugging as they tried to jump up and down together. Santana pulled back and peered down at Brittany's stomach. "You're getting so big."

"She should, there are three babies in there you know," Sam reminded her. He turned and looked at his best friend over his shoulder. "I think Blaine here is doing more sympathy eating than me though."

"And he still looks as handsome as ever," Kurt complimented his husband with a chaste kiss on his cheek. Kurt smiled at everyone before hugging his brother and then his sister-in-law. "The triplets cannot come soon enough. I don't think our grocery budget can handle too much more of this."

"I still can't believe the two of you managed to get pregnant at the same time," Artie laughed. "Did you have a calendar or something?"

"Oh, yeah, it was pink with unicorn stickers," Brittany said seriously. Puck had seen the one that Brittany had sent for Finn. It had been pretty comical. "We just wanted to have our kids be the same age so they could grow up being best friends just like San and me!"

Finn looked at his wife and then over at her ex-girlfriend. "Not just like you and Santana," he decided. "But whatever, I guess, as long as they're all happy."

"Good save, Hudson," Puck chuckled. "I'm going to go over to the international arrivals. I think the Changs should be here any minute."

Time stood still as Puck watched Quinn Fabray stroll down the corridor toward him. She still looked as pure and untouched as she did fifteen years ago when they had shared wine coolers and a little girl. "Hey, Q," he murmured softly as he hugged her tightly. Quinn didn't really keep in touch with too many people from her days in Lima, but she still talked to Puck regularly. They met up once a year in San Francisco where Shelby was living with Beth to visit her on her birthday. It was one of his favorite weekends of the entire year.

"Hey, Puck, you always smell the same. It's like coming home," she grinned when they pulled back. She turned around and grabbed her husband's hand, pulling Mike into a three-way embrace. The two of them lived in London now where Mike choreographed shows on the West End and she taught English Literature at the city's branch of Cambridge. Ending up in a foreign country where you didn't know anyone else tended to throw people together. "I'm so glad we decided to come home for Christmas."

"Yeah, man, this is going to be so great. Where is everyone?" Mike asked. "I got an email from Matt a few days ago. He said that he and 'Cedes should be in from LA by now, right?"

"They're all waiting back by ground transportation," Puck answered. "I thought we'd swing by to meet the Rutherfords. I wanted a minute alone with you guys before everyone else stole you away."

Quinn, Puck and Mike fell into easy conversation as they walked toward the Southwest gate where Matt and Mercedes's plane was just unloading. Quinn was talking about her tenure track when she stopped mid-sentence, screeching more like the cheerleader she used to be than the professor she now was. "Mercedes!" she hollered as she bounced on the heels of her stilettos excitedly. Puck and Mike exchanged an amused smile. "You look fantastic!"

"Don't I always?" the girl giggled as she primped her naturally curly hair. The Grammy-winning singer had her arm looped through Matt's. He was on the coaching staff with the Clippers. "But look at you, girl, London agrees with you!"

Matt was already busy talking shop with Mike when Puck started to usher them toward where the rest of the old glee gang was waiting. It was another flurry of squeals when Kurt and Mercedes reunited. Quinn found herself in the middle of an Unholy Trinity sandwich, and Tina burst into surprising tears when Mike swept her off her feet in a big hug. Despite all their old couplings and fights, they had all managed to remain good friends. Even if they saw each other only sporadically, Puck knew he could call on any one of them and they'd come running. Them being there right now was proof of that.

Sometime later, Finn unlocked the door to the choir room and let them into their old stomping grounds for the first time in years. Santana and Puck had been there often enough, of course, but it was the first time some of them were seeing it since graduation. Kurt held Brittany's hand as they went in first, the two of them grinning at each other as they ran to their old seats. Artie and Tina weren't too far behind, laughing as followed their friends. Sam, Quinn and Mercedes stopped talking long enough to look around the room. Matt wasn't quite as fazed as he slid into the back row with Mike, Blaine sitting on the other side of the Asian as they all talked about dance.

"Alright, so you guys all know that I asked you come here to help celebrate Rach's birthday," Puck announced once Finn had sat down in his old seat behind the drum kit and Santana was perched on the edge of the piano bench. "It's been a really rough year for her with her dad's cancedr. We don't know how much time he has left, but I want to make sure that this birthday is one she won't forget."

"She considered spending it in Florida with Leroy, but she didn't want to be away from the kids," Santana explained. "If she can't be with that part of her family on the big day, we wanted to make sure that she was with this one."

"I was up late for a week trying to figure out what I could do when I caught an old repeat of 'The Office' on Comedy Central. It was the one where Andy is trying to impress that secretary chick, Erin or whatever. Anyhow, he does this whole Twelve Days of Christmas, but we're Jews, right? So I thought that I could just do the best part, the one with music. I knew that'd be her favorite."

That was when Finn jumped in. "Puck and I spent all of last night coming up with a percussion version of 'Sweet Caroline' that should be easy enough for everyone to learn," he said as Puck handed out photocopies of the sheet music. "I borrowed a whole bunch of drums from the band. There are some snares and a few of the big basses and some small tom toms for the girls."

"Twelve drummers drumming," Brittany realized aloud. She grinned over at Sam and then at Puck. "I approve!"

With Brittany's vow of support and several hours of patient instruction from Finn and Puck, the rag-tag group managed to learn their part to Puck's surprise. He was going to abstain from the actual drumming so that he could do the vocals instead. They all agreed to meet up the next day at the airport, where Kurt would take over Puck's driving responsibilities so that he could sneak off with his wife to the most expensive B&B afterward.

"Flight 1372 is now arriving from Miami International at Gate 32," a monotone male voice announced over the loud speaker. Puck grinned to himself as they took their positions a bit outside of the security area. He was really glad that the airport had been gracious enough to allow the somewhat impromptu performance.

"I think I see her," Blaine stage whispered loudly.

'Yeah, yeah, there she is!" Tina agreed excitedly. "Are we ready?"

"One, two, three, four," Finn counted off.

_Where it began, I can't begin to knowin', but then I know it's growing strong…_

Rachel was in tears by the time it was over, but there was a smile underneath it all. She beamed at him the same way she had when they were sixteen and Neil Diamond had first given him the chance to know what it was like to shine in Rachel Berry's light. He took a step back to allow their friends to envelope her in a big hug. Her eyes kept finding his in the crowd, delight and desire and just pure love dancing in the dark chocolate orbs he had grown to know better than his own.

"You're amazing," she whispered by the time she finally found her way into his arms. "I love you so much."

"Love you too, baby," he smiled against her lips. "Happy birthday, Rach."

"Happy anniversary, Noah."

**FIN.**

_Author's note: Thank you all so much for all the kind words of support and love with my Twelve Days of Puckleberry. My writing muses plan to retire for the holiday, but you never know when inspiration will strike. In the meantime, my next planned project is a series of one shots that encompass all the characters in various pairs and entanglements (i.e. not just Puckleberry, though you know they'll get their turn). So if there is something you would like to see or a pairing you want me to tackle, drop me a note. I'll see you all in the New Year._


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